Automatic transmission



Filed April 15, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOIRK UJ Z ammww BY Q ma ATTORNEY MD 311 mm G. F. @OLTSCH WW AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION Filed April 15, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ENTOR mwgimm ATTORN EY Patented Mar. 31, 1936 MUTUTIQ IRAN il @QMDPT htto ht, @oltsch, hos Wolds, @uiit. hpplicction hprll it, with, herinl hiso idtlih this invention relates to outomutic tr it; Mill sions i'or motor vehicles, principal ohiect heing to provide a structure of choracter in which the initiol driving connection between the engine 5 end propeller shufts is obtained nutoniotically without the use of e. manually operated clutch when the speed oi the engine exceeds u predetermined minimum; one in which n subsequent increase in engine speed correspongly increases to the speed oi the propeller shoit without the use oi gents and without the operator huving to nonnipulote our levers or the lilre; and one in which the engine shalt is driven in; the propeller shuit when the speed oi" the latter exceeds thut it oi the engine shoit, so that the engine may he used as a hraire, us has heen determined to he most odventageons.

ii thither ohiect is to construct and strange the ports oi the transmission so that when the engine no end propeller shnits ore hoth turning at the same speed, all relative movement oi the operating parts oi the transmission ceases and the entire structure turns as aunit. ih'iction ond weer on such parts is thereiore reduced to n minimum. it further ohject oi the invention is to produce it simple ond inexpensive device nnd yet one which will he exceedingly ehective tor the purpose for which it isdesigned.

'"lihese ohjects i nccoinplish hr means oi such til structure end relntive arrangement oi parts as will tulip appear low or perusal of the following specihcntion end else. v

in the drowlngs sinliler charocters oi reference indicote corresponding ports in the several views: iiii Figure l. is a sectional elevation of the transmission with the parts in their normal non-oper ation positions, or when the engine shoit is idling. i igure 2 is u transverse section on the line ii-t oi liilgure i. iiii liigure 3 is o irognientorv plan showing the relative position oi the stunts and cars pins when the parts are in the position shown in Figures i and t.

Figure i is n tronsverse section oi the trans= mission with the parts in the position occupied when the engine shoit is speeded up and the propeller shnit is losing driven.

Figure 5 is o fragmentary plan showing the rel- AW utive position oi" the cranll: and earn pins when the parts ore in the position oi Figure 41-.

lilgure t is a diagrammatic end view oi the planeterv gecr unit.

li'igure l is o iragmenterv transverse section pg on the line l-'i oi Figure 1 showing the over (iCiL i iillet running clutch connection hetween the propeller shaft end dry-wheel.

Referring now more particuiurlv to the chemo ters of reference on the druwings, the numerni i denotes the engine shuit which is rigidly to a fly-wheel t. The numeral denotes the propeller shaft which is longitudinally niined with but separate irons and turnahle relative to the engine shaft. i orined on the rent ince oi the lip-wheel is an oval com groove disposed own is) metrical to the unit oi the wheel and A sleeve is splihed on the shell; odiucent hut rearwardly oi the lip-wheel, sold sleeve heing enranged for sliding spiral movement on the shaft by means of a spiroliy disposed key or the l e. Splined on the sleeve for direct relative longitudencl movement is a spider comprising tour rnoliel orrns l disposed so sport. Plvoted at one end on the outer ends of the arms as hr pins ii are linlrs ii, extending circumierentiallv relative to p the fly-wheel. Pins iii project iorwni'dh from the outer ends of the linlrs and enguge the corn groove i, all the linlrs extending in the some di rection from their pivoted ends. Grooves ii are termed in the rear laces oi the linlrs reuiwcrclly 25 of thearnis i, said grooves herring rounded ends disposed in anal alinement with the pins ond iii.

Engaging these grooves ore the cranlr plus it of cranks iii, which are secured on shaits iii no journaled in a spider it": lreved on the shalt 8 and disposed reorwardh oi the cranhs rind spider i. fixed on these shafts rearwardlv oi the spider it are discs. it turnahle on which are ring gears ii; there being overrunning or one-we r clutch to devices indicated conventionally at hetween the discs and corresponding gears.

The gears engage a pinion iii concentric with but turnalole relative to the shaft ii, sud disposed between the spider it and the recur wall oi the to transmission housing it. This pinion also turns in a boss it fixed on the housing; there heing o one-way brake device as at it between the hose and the hub of the pinion to prevent rotation of the latter in one direction.

From the above description oi ports it will he seen that with the rotation of the fiy-wheel rela tive to the shaft and the spider l, the links will oscillate through an are determined hy the difference between the major and minor ares of the cam groove it. it the crank pins it in the link grooves are at that end oi said grooves which places them in clineinent with the pivots t of the limits, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and t, such oscillation will hove no edect on the cm it. hit

The crank shaft M will then remain stationary so that no movement will be imparted to the gears nor' to the pinion l8 or the spider I! to rotate the shaft 3.

This is the position of the parts when the engine is running at a low idling speed. If however the spider I is rotated about the shaft 3 in a direction opposite to the outer ends of the links, so as to relatively shift the crank pins toward the outer end of the link grooves, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the cranks will be oscillated as the links oscillate, and with a stroke whose length is in direct proportion to the distance of the crank pins from the link pivots.

With the oscillation of the cranks the gears ll will be rotated with the oscillating movement of the cranks in one direction only, due to the overrunning clutch connections l8 between the gears and discs i6 which are fixed on the crank shafts H. Since the pinion I9 is held against -rotation in the direction in which it would otherwise be rotated by the rotation of the gears, said gears must planetate around the pinion. This of course causes the spider l and consequently the shaft 3 to be likewise rotated. Owing to the fact that four link and crank units are used, two of the gears will always be driven while the other two are backing up or idling, thus giving a continuous shaft driving torque and avoiding a jerky or intermittent motion. As the shaft 3 rotates the spider I of course rotates also until, as the speed of the shaft 3 and the spider equal that of the drive shaft and fiywheel, it turns as a unit with the fly-wheel and no oscillating movement is imparted to the links or cranks. Any slight reduction in speed of the propeller shaft relative to the fiy-wheel however again sets up the oscillating movement of the cranks and the driving of the gears and of the propeller shaft will be renewed.

The spider I is thus shifted as the engine speeds up above its normal idling speed by a spring controlled centrifugal governor device 23 mounted on the fly-wheel. This device is connected to elements 24 positioned to engage and push the sleeve 5 rearwardly. Since the sleeve is spirally keyed on the shaft 3, it will rotate on said shaft with such rearward movement, tuming the spider I which is splined on the sleeve. The faster the fly-wheel rotates the greater will be the movement of the governor and consequently the spider 1 will be turned to a greater extent. The crank pins then assume positions toward the outer end of the links, giving the greatest crank shaft stroke and driving effect, as previously pointed out and corresponding to a low gear setting of the ordinary transmission.

'As the speed of the spider I increases the work of the governor 23 is supplemented or relieved by another similar governor unit 25 mounted on said spider. This unit is connected to elements 26 which engage behind an enlarged flange 21 on the sleeve 5 at its rear end, and act to further push or hold said sleeve in its rearward or turned position.

In order to prevent a free wheeling action between the shaft 3 and. the fly-wheel or engine shaft when the speed of said shaft 3 exceeds the speed of the engine shaft, and which has been found to be undesirable from the experience of the past few years, the forward end of the shaft 3 is extended into the fiy-wheel. An overrunning clutch unit 28 is interposed between said shaft and the fiy-wheel in such a manner that the fiy-wheel and consequently the engine shaft will be driven by the propeller shaft when the speed of the latter exceeds that of the fly-wheel.

The purpose of the overrunning clutch unit 22 between the pinion I3 and the fixed housing 20 is to eliminate at times the otherwise necessary action of the four sets of clutch units of the gears l1, thus reducing the wear on these parts to a considerable degree.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as de fined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A transmission comprising separate axially alined drive and driven shafts, a fly-wheel on the drive shaft, a spider, means mounting the spider on the driven shaft for rotation therewith, links pivoted on the spider and extending in a plane transversely of the shaft, pins on the outer ends of the links projecting from one side thereof toward the fiy-wheel, a cam-groove on the adjacent face of the fly-wheel into which the pins project, another spider fixed on the driven shaft beyond the first named spider, crank shafts pivoted in said other spider and disposed parallel to the driven shaft, connections between the crank shafts and the driven shaft and functioning with the rotation of the crank shafts in one direction to impart rotation to the driven shaft, crank pins projecting from said crank shafts, the other side of the links having longitudinal grooves into which the crank pins pro-- ject, and means included in part with the mounting means of the first named spider to shift the same about the driven shaft whereby to shift the location of the crank pins along the grooves.

2. A transmission comprising separate axially alined drive and driven shafts, a fly-wheel on the drive shaft, a spider, means mounting the spider on the driven shaft for rotation therewith, links pivoted on the spider and extending in a plane transversely of the shaft, pins on the outer ends of the links projecting from one side thereof toward the fiy-wheel, a cam-groove on the adjacent face ofthe fly-wheel into which the pins project, another spider fixed on the driven shaft beyond the first named spider, crank shafts pivoted in said other spider and disposed parallel to the driven shaft, connections between the crank shafts and the driving shaft and functioning with the rotation of the crank shafts in one direction to impart rotation to the driven shaft, crank pins' projecting from said crank shafts, the other side of the links having longitudinal grooves into which the crank pins project, the grooves extending from the plane of the pivotal connections of the links with the spider and the crank pins occupying positions in axial alinement with said pivotal connections when the driven shaft is stationary, and means included in part with the mounting means of the first named spider and functioning with the rotation of the drive shaft at a speed above a predetermined minimum to shift the first named spider about the driven shaft so as to shift the links in a direction to relatively move the crank pins along the grooves and away from said axially alined position.

3. A structure as in'claim 1, said last named means comprising a. sleeve spirally splined on the driven shaft and on which said first named spider is mounted, a centrifugal governor mounted in connection with the drive shaft, and an element fixed with the governor and engaging the sleeve to slide the same along the driven shaft when said governor is actuated by an increase in speed of the drive shaft above a predetermined minimum.

O'I'IO F. GOLTSCH. 

